Why is Shanxi mature vinegar called mature vinegar?

The most popular vinegar variety in Shanxi is the local specialty-Shanxi mature vinegar, which is famous at home and abroad and was founded in Shunzhi period in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Now as long as we talk about old vinegar, people will naturally think of Shanxi old vinegar. Outsiders call Shanxi people old children. You know, "Xi" and "acyl" are homophonic. Shanxi people love to be jealous. Shanxi people are synonymous with vinegar, and they are also famous all over the country, but I didn't know that "acyl" was the original name of "vinegar" in ancient China. About Shanxi vinegar and Shanxi people, mainlanders have made up a lot of jokes, probably all related to vinegar.

Perhaps some people have heard the story recorded in Shangshu: Wu Ding, the Emperor Gaozu of Yin, made some remarks in order to hire a man named as prime minister: "If you are a wine cellar, you are only a tiller;" If you are cereal soup, you are just salt plums. " The plum mentioned here is sour plum, which was used as vinegar at that time. At that time, Fu Shuo lived in seclusion in a place called Yanfu in Pinglu County, Shaanxi Province. It can be seen that as early as the twelfth century BC, Shanxi people had a good reputation of being jealous. Professor Hao Shuhou, a historian, once verified that there should have been vinegar makers at least before 497 BC, that is, "Jinyang City (now Jinyuan Town in the southern suburbs of Taiyuan City) was established".

In the book "Shanxi Qingxu Mature Vinegar" published by Youth Industry Publishing House 1959, it said: "Mature Vinegar, a national famous specialty in Shanxi, was reportedly brewed here during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period." Some people say that Jia Sixie, a great agronomist in the Northern Wei Dynasty, summed up twenty methods of fermented vinegar in Qi Yao Min Shu. Among them, the "glutinous rice vinegar" (vinegar) method notes: "Clear it in August, don't keep the urn, and close the pot for several years." Jia Sixie made an investigation in Shaanxi, and the method he introduced was basically the aging method of Qing Xu mature vinegar. ?

Some people praised Qing Xu's mature vinegar for its exquisite quality. As long as the bottle cap is unscrewed, the fragrant and sour taste will immediately float into the nose; If you put it into a bowl and form a circle, it will stick to the mouth of the bowl evenly. Whether it is hot or cold, it will be sour, mellow and memorable when eaten in the mouth. Because vinegar contains more than 5% of acetic acid, lactic acid, gluconic acid, succinic acid, amino acids, sugar, glycerol, aldehydes and salts, and a small amount of alcohol. So vinegar can produce a small amount of heat energy. Because of the long fermentation time and high vinegar temperature (above 40℃) in vinegar production, various microorganisms have complicated biochemical changes, which also bring special flavor to vinegar. During the production of Qingxu aged vinegar, a jar of 400-500 kg of new vinegar, after evaporation in the sun and pumping water by ice fishing in winter, can only have less than 200 kg left, so it has the characteristics of deep purple color, fragrant smell and mild and sour taste. Therefore, Shanxi mature vinegar created by Wang is essentially a natural concentrated vinegar. As early as 1956 and 1965 national condiment appraisal meeting, Qingxu mature vinegar was rated as the first; 1979 was rated as a high-quality product by the Ministry of Light Industry and the Shanxi Provincial People's Government. ?

The birthplace of Shanxi mature vinegar is Qingxu County, Taiyuan City, but the man who made Shanxi mature vinegar stunt was a man in Jiexiu, Jinzhong. His name is Wang. According to legend, there was a wuyue Temple in Caoshi Lane, Jiexiu County in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. According to the old people, during the reign of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty, there was a "Wang Ji Vinegar Village" across the hall from Wuyue Temple. This vinegar farm was opened by the alliance brothers of the two brothers and eldest brother of the Wangs. The eldest of the Wangs has only one only son, named Wang. Frye's brain is easy to use since he was a child, and he can learn to ask questions. As long as adults are a little bit, they can understand everything. Big brother and younger brother are friends of life and death, but younger brother often scolds heaven and land all day, slamming pots and bowls because of uneven dividends in vinegar fields. Therefore, when the boss was seriously ill, he entrusted the arrogant king Frye to Monty. Later, the boss died, and the second wanted to monopolize the family property, so he made things difficult for his nephew everywhere. Big Brother's brother didn't like it, so he simply led Wang back to his hometown, Qingxu County, and opened a vinegar workshop to make a living. Later, he betrothed his only daughter to Wang and taught all the skills of making vinegar to Wang and his wife. A few years later (1644), my father-in-law and my mother-in-law died one after another. Wang inherited his father-in-law's family business and opened a "Frye Vinegar Shop" with his mother-in-law, inheriting his parents' experience in making vinegar. After several years of exploration, he used local high-quality sorghum as raw material, barley, peas and Daqu as qu, and changed it to "white"?

It is said that one year, an imperial envoy passed by Qingxu, and the county grandfather invited him to eat Daoxiao Noodles, which was flavored with vinegar made by Wang. The imperial envoys praised him repeatedly, so the county magistrate presented ten baskets of aged vinegar brewed by the imperial envoys and asked him to accept it. After the imperial envoy returned to Beijing, the emperor gave a banquet to entertain him when he saw that the imperial envoy's mission was successfully completed. The imperial envoys hurriedly took out five baskets of mature vinegar brewed by the king and presented them to the emperor. After the royal banquet, the emperor even praised the vinegar in the study, so an imperial envoy told the story of five baskets of vinegar. The emperor was very happy to hear that. He conveniently wrote five characters of "Shanxi mature vinegar" with a brush, and ordered Wang to go to Beijing to make vinegar for Wangfu Hotel. When Wang came to Jinluan, he knelt down and explained to the emperor: "There are three reasons for vinegar-water quality, raw materials and technology. Shanxi's water is most suitable for old vinegar, and it is best to go back to Qingxu to make vinegar for the emperor. " Then, the emperor appointed Wang as the vinegar official-chef of Jiupin Palace, and gave him a flagpole, holding high the imperial pen banner of "Shanxi Old Vinegar". Since then, Shanxi mature vinegar is famous at home and abroad.